• Trump lands in Beijing to warm welcome, will meet Chinese counterpart today
• Iran war, tensions over tariffs, minerals and Taiwan arms sale high on agenda
• Tesla, Nvidia, Apple executives among dozen accompanying US president
• China says ‘stands ready’ to expand cooperation and manage differences

BEIJING: The Iran war, trade tensions, and Taiwan will loom over the highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which will take place in Beijing’s opulent Great Hall of the People today (Thursday).

This is the first visit by a US president to China in a decade, and comes at a time when his country is embroiled in a weeks-long war with Iran, which has rattled energy markets and cost Was­hington more than $29 billion.

The visit, aimed at easing deep tensions between the rival superpowers, was planned for March, but it faced a delay due to the Middle East war, triggered by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.

In addition to his meeting with President Xi, the US president will visit the historic Temple of Heaven, a world heritage site where China’s emperors once prayed for a good harvest. The lead­ers will then enjoy a state banquet in the evening. On Fri­day, they are set to have tea and a working lunch before Trump heads home.

While en route to Beijing, Trump said on social media he would “be asking President Xi, a leader of extraordinary distinction, to ‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic”.

In the waning Wednesday twilight, President Trump descen­ded the steps of Air Force One after touching down at Beijing Capital International Airport.

Right behind him were Tesla boss Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang — potent symbols of the business deals that Trump hopes to sign between the world’s biggest economies.

He was greeted with a bunch of flowers and then walked along the red carpet, which was lined with 300 Chinese youth in white uniforms, waving small Chinese and US flags. Pausing midway down the red carpet as the students chanted “welcome, welcome, warm welcome” in Mandarin, he punched the air and smiled broadly before departing in his limousine.

Nvidia’s Huang was a surprise late addition to the trip, joining the plane at a stopover in Alaska. China is currently banned under US national security rules from buying the cutting-edge AI chips that the company produces. Among those joining the president on his official trip to Beijing are Tim Cook of Apple, Larry Fink of BlackRock, as well as other executives from Meta, Visa, JP Morgan, Boeing, Cargill and others, the BBC reported.

Trade and war

The long-simmering trade war between the two countries will also be top of the agenda, after President Trump’s sweeping tariffs last year triggered tit-for-tat levies that exceeded 100 per cent.

Trump and Xi are set to discuss extending a one-year tariff truce, which the two leaders reached during their last meeting in South Korea in October, although a deal is far from certain. China’s controls on rare earth and agriculture exports are also expected to be on the menu.

Apart from trade, the talks will cover a host of sensitive subjects from the Iran war to the US’ arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China. He is widely expected to encourage China to convince Tehran to make a deal with Washington to end the conflict, though he has said he did not think he would need its help.

Before leaving for China, he told reporters that “I don’t think we need any help with Iran” from China and that President Xi had been “relatively good” on the topic. But he had also said he expected a “long talk” with Xi about the joint US-Israeli war with Iran, which sells most of its US-sanctioned oil to China.

The visit came against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East, punctuated by strikes on oil tankers and Iranian boats, amid efforts by Pakistan to broker a peace agreement between Tehran and Washington. Earlier Paki­stan’s efforts, supported by China and other regional powers, yielded a temporary truce and one round of talks in its capital. As talks stall, Beijing is growing impatient for peace, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi urging his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday to step up mediation efforts between Iran and the United States.

China welcomes visit

However, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday it “welcomes” Trump’s visit and that “China stands ready to work with the United Sta­tes... to expand cooperation and manage differences”.

China also reiterated on Wednesday its strong opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan, with the status of a $14 billion package awaiting Trump’s approval still unclear. President Trump said on Monday he would speak to Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, the move marks a departure from historic US insistence that it will not consult Beijing on its support to the island.

He has repeatedly touted a strong personal relationship with Xi, which he insisted on Monday would prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the self-ruled democracy claimed by Beijing.

The tense buildup to the summit was already visible on the streets of Beijing, with police monitoring major intersections and checking the ID cards of passengers on the metro. “It’s definitely a big deal,” said Wen Wen, a 24-year-old woman travelling from Nanjing, when asked about Trump’s visit.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2026